Recent Trade – Buy Bloomsbury Publishing and giftgaming

Well, I did it. I finally bought shares in Bloomsbury Publishing, after having no real reason to not do so for the last several months. My friend over at The Dividend Drive probably convinced me to finally take the plunge, as we have been commenting voraciously back and forth regarding this stock and we hadn’t actually gotten around to buying it yet. Since I only just recently bought Interserve (his latest top-up), I thought I’d just buy something new instead, so good old Bloomsbury got picked. It’s highly likely I’ll add to our position in Interserve over the next few months though, as it really is a fantastic company. If you want to know more about them, check out The Dividend Drive’s write-up.

We also bought (yes, we) shares in giftgaming via SEEDRS* using the SEIS method to save tax, and we couldn’t be happier. Not only are we helping a young venture out with funding in their early days, but Nick Hatter (the CEO)’s campaign is doing exceptionally well. As with his earlier funding round, he has eclipsed his target funding level within a matter of days. GO NICK!

That’s about all for now on share purchases. I wanted to add to a few other positions, but since we decided to take the plunge with giftgaming instead, we put off topping up some of our other holdings until another time. We decided to do the SEIS route, since we are close to the end of the tax year, so after April 6th, we can claim back half the cost of our investment as a tax rebate, YAY!

In other news, I accidentally locked myself out of my son’s trading account, and I haven’t gotten around to calling the broker to unlock it. This means I have no way of checking up on his stocks and shares JISA, or his Child’s SIPP, let alone topping up any of his holdings. We trade very infrequently on his account, waiting until at least £150 has accrued before purchasing anything (due to £1.50 dealing charge). His monthly savings are split three ways – cash, SIPP, and the JISA – so only a small amount is going into each pot.

What stocks have you bought shares in this month? Let me know, leave a comment below!

Thanks for visiting. I like Bloomsbury a lot of late, and since my shares in Sky have gone up so much, I’m loathe to add more, so that was part of the reason why I felt even more pushed towards buying BMY instead as a media sector stock.

IN re. giftgaming – I hate pop-ups too, which is why giftgaming is so cool – it monetises the game without the use of pop-ups. The gamer would just see a gift icon on the screen somewhere, and it is their choice to click it or not, unless pop-ups or permanent ads which are at the bottom and/or top of most games or apps, especially mobile and social ones. I find these ads super annoying and I would never ever click on one, whereas I might click on a gift icon, as the gift would contain a power-up of some kind, which is valuable to me at that moment. This would also contain the ad or virtual coupon – I think the latter is what they are trying to do – as the coupon is basically an advert AND something potentially valuable at the same time.

Thanks for the link! Much appreciated! Will have a read. It does sound interesting.

I know what you mean. Each time you think you have fixed on what to buy, something crops up which changes your mind. Bloomsbury, as you know, is one example. Interserve just overruled again!

What catches by eye with CVS and Dignity? Really it is that both operate in very fragmented industries. Both funeralcare and veterinary services tend to be composed of small individual clinics/undertakers or slightly larger groups. The opportunities of consolidation seem very good as a result.

CVS Group also has particularly high margins (as you’d expect). Both also operate in industries which weather recessions rather well. Although pet spending is far from entirely recession proof it does seem that people are willing to spend on their pets especially when it comes to their health. Obviously, people still tend to–sadly–pass away during recessions and spending is not easy to skimp on in this area.

They also both seem to have high dividend coverage (about 4 times for Dignity and 10 times for CVS). Of course, they also have quite low yields. But clearly there is scope for this to change over time! They do look very interesting.

I’ve not experimented with non-personal p2p loans yet. I may do eventually. I’m quite comfortable with Zopa for now. I would have to experiment with another with small amounts of cash to see whether I like the experience or not. In general I am quite conservative with where I put my cash! Do you use Funding Circle?Dividend Drive recently posted…2015 Goals: Weaving “Work Freedom Day” into my Annual Goals

Thanks for replying again. Interesting to hear your thoughts on Dignity in particular, as that is probably the one I would go for out of the two of them.

I do use Funding Circle, and I quite like it. I also got £20 for free to use at Rebuilding Society, which I find kind of odd and a bit awkward. Their website could do with some MAJOR improvements, but given that it was a totally free investment, I was not gonna say no to that!

As you say, I got attracted away by Interserve again! You of course very recently topped up!

I still have Bloomsbury sitting high up on my watchlist! Top company, well managed! It is a nice buy for you I am sure!

I have not looked into giftgaming much yet since your last post on them. Will have to. Sounds interesting.

I know the feeling with the passwords. I am going to have to update my system to make it more straightforward or else I will lose access to half of my accounts soon enough!Dividend Drive recently posted…BUY: Interserve–Topping up on a Service Ace

I think the main reason for wanting to get into giftgaming now, is that it’s the end of the tax year. I could have bought Interserve to lock in the next dividend payment (it’s going ex-div on teh 6th April I think), but I still have a little time if I really want to do that. However, it’s more likely I’ll top up at the end of April, as I usually only trade once per month. But I am interested in making more SEIS or EIS compatible investments, just for a bit of diversity into something with potentially high-growth. We’re pretty well diversified already and have a great emergency fund, but aside from our (good) experience with p2p lending over the last 9 years, we are not concentrating on any growth investments, preferring to stick with income at the moment.

Yes, SEIS ( or EIS) is not something I have heard of before you mentioned it. It seems rather interesting. I had a quick look at it but not enough to fully get to grips with it! Have you seen (or indeed written yourself) anything about it before for the uninitiated?

I too have had a good experience with p2p lending. However, if focused more on personal rather than business loans which (I gather from the context of your comment above) is what you focused on. Correct? Until they can sit in ISAs though I have held off investing much more in them.

At my stage I am still looking at high yield chiefly as well. However, now I am beginning to look at income/growth more particularly. For example, the veterinarians CVS Group interests me greatly as does funeral care company Dignity. It would be only a small nudge in that direction if it does occur.

You’re right about Interserve’s ex-div day. It is a rather weird date, however. that did not really sway my decision for buying now. I just keep waiting for the moment that people begin to recognise the company’s value. I think part of the problem is that several big names in the sector are on the naughty step and have been for a while. It has therefore rubbed off on the whole sector!Dividend Drive recently posted…BUY: Interserve–Topping up on a Service Ace

You are correct in thinking that my focus is now on business lending. I started out with ZoPA when they first started, so I haven’t always focussed on business lending, but of late it’s become exclusive.

I’ve also looked at Dignity and CVS, but not interested enough to go for either just yet. What got you interested in them?

I think you’re right about the infrastructure/construction support services being kind of in the doldrums right now, but it does mean that you pick up quality like Carillion and Interserve for relatively cheap. Totally wanna top-up my Interserve this month, but we’ll see what other bargains become available. I’ll do my monthly watchlist next Saturday and see how it pans out.

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